Sports complex: Land buy cut by 100 acres to get council back in game

Conceptual aerial plans for a Clarksville family athletic complex at Exit 8 of Interstate 24. After TSSA chose Murfreesboro instead of Clarksville, some of this may undergo revisions.(Photo: Kent Travis/USAT Network)

At 4:30 p.m., the city finance committee will meet to hammer out details on a land contract that's been revised to make the deal more palatable to more council members, according to city spokesman Richard V. Stevens. The full council will meet immediately afterward.

The land purchase has been reduced from 409 acres to about 304 acres, removing from the deal about 100 acres that was to be purchased from a partnership called "Exit 8 Properties," consisting of local business leaders Jack B. Turner, Jeff Turner, Eddie Burchett and David B. Smith.

The now-remaining 304 acres is being bought from the Connell family, Stevens said.

The original price of about $6 million will go down as well, to just over $4 million.

This change leaves that 100 acres in private hands for sports complex-related commercial development in the area, which is just north of Interstate 24 at Exit 8, to the east of Rossview Road.

The mayor's office "needed to move quickly because of the relationship with the partners," Stevens said, referring to the Tennessee State Soccer Association and the Prospect League, both of which have said they want to bring teams and tourism deals worth tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars to Clarksville.

How we got here

The sports complex is designed to be both a community athletics venue and a tourism draw, featuring soccer fields, baseball diamonds, ice hockey rinks and tennis courts, plus a walking trail and water recreation connections to the Clarksville Blueway.

The complex would provide much-needed space for local youth leagues and teams, particularly the soccer fields.

Tennessee State Soccer Association has expressed interest in being a long-term tenant of a portion of the sports complex. It would maintain some 16 soccer fields and coordinate tournaments that would generate enough tourism revenue and tax proceeds to pay off the debt from developing the facilities.

There had also been the possibility of developing a multi-purpose baseball stadium which might have served as the home to collegiate Prospect League baseball.

How they voted

On May 3, the Clarksville City Council rejected a plan to buy the 409 acres. While the money for the land was previously appropriated and on first reading the land purchase was approved, the council voted 7-6 against the proposal.

One week earlier, on April 26, in a first-reading vote, the council had voted 6-5 in favor of the contract. But Garrett and Burkhart — two no votes — were absent from that meeting.

On Thursday, the Finance Committee will meet in Council Chambers at 106 Public Square. Assuming they approve, the ordinance will go immediately to a special-called meeting of the Clarksville City Council, on the schedule at the same time.

If the Council approves the land deal on the first vote, a second meeting will be called on Friday to finalize the measure, Stevens said. That meeting is not yet on the calendar.